Sucker rod centralizer and paraffin scraper



Feb. 15, A1955 K. G. WAGNER I SUCKER ROD CENTRALIZER AND PARAF'FINSCRAPER Filed Aug. l5. 1950 INVENToR.

Karl 6. Wagner Fig.

United States Patent() SUCKER ROD CENTRALIZER AND'PARAFFIN SCRAPER KarlG. Wagner, Tulsa, Okla.

AppxicationAugust 1-5, 195o, serial No. 179,497 3 Claims. (c1. 16s-176)This-invention comprises novel and useful improvements in a. sucker rodcventralizer and more specifically pertains to an attachment for suckerrods which shall guide andcenter avsuckerrodin the well tubing; willconstitutemeans `for. scraping and preventing the accumulation ofparaffin and the like inside the tubing; and will facilitate the removalof brokensucker rods from the tubing assemblies of wells.l Y

TheV primary object, of this invention is to provide an attachment whichmay be readily applied to existing types of` sucker rods andreceivedwithin conventional tubings for reciprocation in the tubing with thesucker rod, and which is specifically intended to prevent theaccumulation of parailn in the tubing which would thus obstruct the flowof oil froma well; and will serve to guide the sucker rod and preventwear of the same against the sides of the tubing.

A further object of theinvention is to-provide a combined sucker rodguide and tubing scraper attachment for sucker rods;which. may beconveniently and easily attached 4to existing sucker rods and, will havea highly dependable permanent attachment thereto.

A.more.` speciicobject of the invention is to provide an attachment forsucker rods in lc onformity with theforegoing object which shallcompressibly engage and be permanently securedto a sucker rod withoutdanger of slippage on thesame; whihdshall not materially impede the ilowof oil through the tubing-of a well; which will effectively` preventundue wearing ofthe sucker rod and tubing through rubbingof vthe sametogether; and which will render more effective the operation of thesucker rod and ofthe pumping operation ofawell by guiding the sucker-rodin the tubingv throughoutl its length thereby minimizing vibrationsandthe like.

These, together with various ancillary features and objects of.theinvention, which will later become apparent as the following descriptionproceed,s, are attained by the present invention, preferred embodimentsof which have been illustrated, by way of example, inthe accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical central longitudinal sectional view through atypical well assembly showing the well casing, a well tubing, a suckerrod therein and illustrating the manner of applying the suckerattachment to the sucker rod and within the tubing;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional View taken substantially upon theplane indicated by the section line 2-2 of Figure 1 and showing onemanner in which a sucker attachment may be applied to a sucker rod inaccordance with this invention;

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional detail view, parts being inelevation, taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the sectionline 3 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view similar to Figure 2 and showinga modified form of sucker rod attachment in accordance with thisinvention, the attachment being shown applied to the rod and prior toits permanent engagement with the same;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but showing the manner in whichthe modied form of attachment is permanently locked compressibly uponthe sucker rod; and

Figure 6 is an end elevational view of the completely assembled form ofthe modification of Figure 5.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, referenceis made first to Figure 1 wherein it will be seen that there isdisclosed a portion of a well excavation having the customary wellcasing 10 sunk into a well bore 12 in a formation, and in accordance`with` conventional practice there is received within. the casing- 10 astringV of tubing 14 through which oil is pumped or; withdrawnV from theoil reservoir, usually by means of .a pumping assembly including asucker rod 16 which is reciprocable within the tubing 14 and operates apump,` not shown, at the bottom of the well hole;

It is commonly known to thoseskilled in operating oil..

wells of the sucker rod type, that the gradual accumulation, of paraffinwithin the tubing 14v and about the sucker', rod 16 will graduallythrottle the cross sectional areaof the tubing and materially restrictand sometimes, completely prevent the necessary pumping operation. Whenthis occurs, it is necessary to remove the sucker rod and/ or. thetubing 14 in order to cleanse the same', this being obviously, a-veryexpensive, laborious and timeconsuming operation.

It is further known that inasmuch as well bores are frequently not trulydrilled in a straight line vertical shaft, that the long strings ofsucker rods 16 .and tubing 14 frequently have slight bends inthesamewhich cause a rubbing action of thesucker rod against the sideofthe tubing with a consequent very great impairment of the life of the.sucker rod and tubing assembly; excessive vibrations in these memberswhich further impair the life of the same; and produce undue lost motionin the sucker rod assembly which may likewise detrimentally affect thepumping operation by virtue of the relative flexing of the suckerrod'with respect to the tubing. Y

It is the primary intention of this invention toV provide an attachmentwhich mayovercome all of the above mentioneddisadvantages in a simpleand satisfactory manner; and which attachment will further constitute ameans facilitating the catching and withdrawing-of broken sucker rodswhen the samev drop` tothe bottom of the tubing or casing of the well. l

For this purpose, the invention utilizes a disk-like body forming anattachment for a sucker rod, a plurality ofy these bodiesbeingdisposedupon a sucker rod in spaced relation and ixedlyvsecured thereto in animprovedv manner. These disk-like bodies formingthe attachment of thepresentinventionvare specifically adapted to function as guides for thereciprocating sucker rod; to operateas Scrapers for removing orpreventing .paraffin formations or incrustations on the insidejof thetubing 14; facilitating the continuousjow'of; oilgup the tubingr14during theoperation of the sucker. rod;:andr constituting a meansbybwhich broken suck'er rods ,mayV beremovedfrom" the tu ing.

Referring rstjto the'embodimentuof Figures -IZa'nd3E` it willl be seen.tha t.theatt`ahm,e1 1 Consists. of,;a`^disklike' body indicatedgenerally `byY reference numeral1 18",--and which is of substantiallycircular cross section, this body having an arcuate outer wall 20 whichterminates in end portions 22 which are slightly spaced from each otheras shown in Figure 2.

Disposed centrally with respect to the outer wall 20 and concentrictherewith is an inner wall 24 which thus provides an arcuate passageindicated at 26 between the inner and outer walls. The ends of the innerand outer walls are integrally joined by inwardly extending walls 28,and it will be seen that these walls 28 diverge outwardly from theirjuncture with the inner walls to thus constitute a wedge-shaped openingof a size to readily permit passage of the sucker rod 16 therebetween. Afastening member 30 in the form of a bolt or the like is received in acountersunk bore 32 in the outer wall 20 and extends through an aperturein the adjacent end wall 28 and through a screw threaded aperture in theother or opposite end wall.

The arrangement is such that the disk may be inserted laterally upon thesucker rod 16 and the screw 30 then placed in the bore 32 and screwedinto the two end walls 28 thus causing the inner wall 24 to compressiblyengage and fixedly clamp the sucker rod 16. When the adapter body isthus compressibly clamped upon the sucker rod 16, the ends of the bolt30 are welded or otherwise rigidly secured in a permanent fasteningattachment to the end walls 28 thus permanently locking the attachmentto the sucker rod.

The size of the attachment is such that the same may beslidably'received in the tubing 14 and may be inserted t passage of theoil up the tubing of the well and will also serve to receive a iishingtool when itis necessary to catch and remove broken sucker rod sectionsfrom the bottom of a well.

It should be Vhere noted, as shown in Figure l, that a plurality ofthese attachments are secured to the sucker rod 16, adjacent attachmentsbeing spaced from each other a distance which is less than the stroke ofthe sucker rod, as indicated by the line 34 in Figure 1. Thus, during afull stroke of the sucker rod in its reciprocations, each of theattachment disks will travel a distance greater than their spacing thuscleansing the tubing throughout its entire length.

It is evident that other means may be provided for compressibly clampingthe attachment disks to the sucker rod. Thus, as shown in Figures 4-6, amodied construction of disk indicated generally by the numeral 36 may beprovided, this disk having concentric outer and inner walls 38 and 40respectively which thus provide an arcuate channel or space 42therebetween for the passage of oil up the tubing 14.

An axially centered bore 44 is formed by the arcuate inner surface ofthe inner wall 40 and serves to receive the sucker rod 16 in the samemanner as set forth in connection with the preceding embodiment. Thedisk 36 is provided with divergent side walls 46 forming a wedgeshapedopening by means of which the sucker rod 16 may be moved into thecentral aperture 44 of the disk. A closing member 50 is provided in thiswedge-shaped opening as shown in Figure 4, this closure member having anarcuate outer surface 52 forming a continuation of the arcuate outersurface of the outer wall 38. With the disk in position upon the suckerrod 16, and the closure member 50 in place as shown in Figure 4, thedisk 36 is compressed and caused to compressibly clamp upon the suckerrod 16 by any desired means, and While so compressibly engaged upon thesucker rod, the ends of the closure member 50 are welded to the surfaces46 as shown at 54 in Figure 5. It will thus be seen that the compressiveclamping action of the disk upon the sucker rod, previously mentioned isthus maintained.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the im- 4 goingspecification Vand accompanying drawings, it is not desired to limit theinvention to the exact construction shown andV described, but allsuitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, fallingwithin the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A scraper and guide attachment for centrally spacing sucker rodswithin well tubing and scraping the well tubing upon reciprocation ofthe sucker rods, said attachment including a body comprisingconcentrically spaced outer and inner split rings havingcircumferentially spaced free ends, means joining the outer and innerrings to one another at their circumferentially spaced free ends, saidouter ring having an external diameter substantially equal to the insidediameter of the Well tubing for slidably engaging the tubing, said innerring having an internal diameter substantially equal to the diameter ofa sucker rod for mounting the body on a sucker rod, and meansinterconnecting said joining means and reducing the spacing between saidjoining means for xedly clamping the body on a sucker rod.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein said joining means are spacedapart from one another a circumferential distance less than 3. A scraperand guide attachment for centrally spacing sucker rods within welltubing land scraping the well tubing upon reciprocation of the suckerrods, said attachment including a body comprising concentrically spacedarcuate outer and inner walls, said outer and inner walls terminating insets of circumferentially spaced ends providing an opening into thespace enclosed by the inner wall andproviding an opening into the spaceenclosed by the inner wall, said opening deiining an arc of less than180, spacing means rigidly connecting the ends of each set to oneanother, the outer diameter of said outer Wall being substantially equalto the inner diameter of a well tubing string for slidably engaging theinside ofthe tubing, the inner diameter of the inner wall beingsubstantially equal to the external diameter of a sucker rod for iittingaround the sucker rod, and means for retaining said inner wall incompressive clamping engagement with a sucker rod over which the body isfitted.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,560,468 Dodson Nov. 3, 1925 1,600,577 Crickrner Sept. 21, 19262,058,331 Long Oct. 20, 1936 .2,094,169 Germany Sept. 28, 1937 2,237,863Donaldson Apr. 8, 1941 2,248,894 Park July 8, 1941 2,321,275 Blackburn.lune 8, 1943 2,322,419 Cranford June 22, 1943 2,509,492 Gould May 30,1950

